Ukraine war latest: 'We are very close to deal', Trump claims - in long Truth Social post attacking Zelenskyy (2025)

As Donald Trump piled the pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to his peace plan - which includes recognising Russian sovereignty over annexed Crimea - experts have warned of an international law breach in a Ukrainian newspaper.

Russia took over Crimea in 2014 but Ukraine has always maintained it as part of its territory, with most of the international community refusing to recognise Russia's illegal seizure of the area.

Formally recognising Russian sovereignty now "would be a clear violation of international law", Stefan Wolff, international security professor at the University of Birmingham, told the Kyiv Independent.

"It is unlikely that a majority of Ukraine's remaining allies would follow suit, but other countries more closely aligned with Russia already might," he said.

Meanwhile, security expert Aaron Gasch Burnett described the move as "surrender".

He told the Kyiv Independent that leaving Crimea in Russia's hands would "open up a can of worms on all kinds of global conflicts".

"Authoritarians will learn that all they really have to do is invade their neighbour, stick it out, and then eventually they'll be rewarded for it — that imperialism pays," he added.

We brought you Donald Trump's Truth Social post moments ago, in which he criticised Volodymyr Zelenskyy's stance on Crimea.

But what did Ukraine's president say, and why has it angered Trump?

As we've explained throughout the day, Trump's reported seven-point peace plan to end the war includes that the US would formally recognise Russian sovereignty over annexed Crimea.

But Zelenskyy has pushed back on that, insisting that Ukraine "will not legally recognise the occupation of Crimea".

"There's nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution," he added.

Watch: Michael Clarke runs through Trump's reported peace plan

It all comes as Trump is ramping up pressure on Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a peace deal, with his administration saying they could walk away from brokering a deal altogether if it's not agreed quickly.

That's something JD Vance doubled down on earlier, describing Washington's proposal as "explicit" (see 1.30pm post).

"It's time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process," he said.

We've just heard from Donald Trump, who has once again raised the pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to a peace deal.

Writing something of a rant on his Truth Social account, he claimed a deal is "very close" - but only after heaping pressure on Ukraine's president and calling on him to "get it done".

"We are very close to a deal, but the man with 'no cards to play' should now, finally, GET IT DONE," he said.

"I look forward to being able to help Ukraine, and Russia, get out of this complete and total MESS, that would have never started if I were president!"

Most of the post, however, was dedicated to criticising Zelenskyy for telling the Wall Street Journal that Ukraine would not accept giving up Crimea as part of peace negotiations.

As we explained in our post at 12pm, Trump's reported seven-point peace plan to end the war includes that the US would formally recognise Russian sovereignty over annexed Crimea.

Russia took over Crimea in 2014 but without the war that broke out in 2022 with its full scale invasion of Ukraine - something Trump references in his Truth Social post.

But Ukraine has always maintained Crimea is part of its territory, with most of the international community refusing to recognise Russia's illegal seizure of the area.

Our security and defence analyst Michael Clarke has been back answering your questions on the war in Ukraine this afternoon.

Among the questions, he was asked:

• How long before the US walks away from the table?
• What kind of deal would satisfy all parties?
• What is the real state of the Russian army?

What this week's full Q&A in the video below.

Poland's foreign minister has used an annual address to parliament to hit out at Vladimir Putin, asking "don't you have enough land?"

It comes after Russia's president reportedly offered to end the war at the current frontlines as part of efforts to reach a peace deal with Donald Trump - as we told you in our 7.48am post.

Poland is one of Kyiv's strongest supporters, with Radek Sikorski using his speech to take aim at Russia, saying "eleven time zones and still not enough?"

"Take care of better governing what is within your borders according to international law."

Take a look at the map below showing the current territorial situation in the war.

With a war still raging next to Poland's border, Sikorski set out a number of key questions many in the country are asking.

"Anxiety, and the question of what will happen, have settled in Polish homes," he said.

"Are we also at risk of Russian aggression? Are the relations between Europe and the United States heading towards a crisis? Can Europe quickly improve its defence capabilities?”

More on those talks in London today which were downgraded after several top-level foreign ministers pulled out.

UK officials still met with their Ukrainian counterparts (see 3.35pm post), but the downgrading in diplomacy is in contrast with Donald Trump raising the pressure on a ceasefire.

So, what's going on? Is a peace deal inching closer or moving further away?

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson talks to Sky’s military analyst Michael Clarke to find out.

You can alsofollow the podcast here, so you never miss an episode.

We've just heard from UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has been holding talks with Ukrainian officials in London today.

"We are working at pace with US, Ukraine and European allies to end the war and secure a just and lasting peace, with senior official talks in London today," he said.

He added that the meeting involving Defence Secretary John Healey, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov, was "valuable".

Lammy also said it took place at a "critical moment for our security".

For context: As we've been reporting throughout the day, foreign ministers from the US, France and Germany postponed a plan to join the meeting. But the Ukrainian and UK talks went ahead.

The downgrade in the level of diplomacy is in contrast with a recent intensification in the pressure fromDonald Trumpand his team forKyivandMoscowto agree to a ceasefire.

By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent

I think Russia will be quite content that the peace talks in London have been downgraded, because it gives them another chance to try to blame Ukraine for the lack of progress.

"Not possible to narrow positions" was the reason the Kremlin suggested for the development, in reference to the relationship between Washington and Kyiv.

I'm sure Moscow will seek to push that point when US envoy Steve Witkoff is in town later this week - that Ukraine are the difficult ones, not Russia, when it comes to trying to reach a peace deal.

Ever since Donald Trump threatened to walk away from talks at the end of last week, it feels like Russia has been falling over itself to show a willingness to make progress.

Watch below: Three reasons from military analyst Sean Bell for why Putin announced an 'Easter truce'

First it was the surprise Easter ceasefire; then it was Vladimir Putin saying he was open to direct talks with Kyiv (for the first time since the early days of the war); and most recently, reports (via the FT) that Russia has offered to halt its invasion along the current frontlines - which, if true, would be the first sign Russia is willing to back down from its maximalist demands. Previously, it had demanded Ukraine cede those territories in their entirety.

But despite this apparent verbal shift in position here in recent days, Moscow's other demands still appear to be set in stone.

Just today, for example, the Kremlin once again reiterated its opposition to European peacekeepers as part of future security guarantees for Ukraine. And there's still no apparent movement on issues like NATO membership, sanctions relief and Ukraine's future status.

So, how ready is Russia, really, to end its war? A peace deal still feels quite far away.

As officials meet in London for downgraded talks, Ukraine's deputy prime minister has taken aim at Donald Trump's reported peace proposal we told you about a little earlier (see 12pm post).

Yulia Svyrydenko has said Ukraine is "ready to negotiate - but not to surrender".

"A full ceasefire - on land, in the air, and at sea - is the necessary first step," she said.

"If Russia opts for a limited pause, Ukraine will respond in kind."

Breaking down the specifics, Svyrydenko insisted Ukraine would "never recognise" the occupation of Crimea - something the US has said it would do in its proposal.

Another of Trump's proposals is to bar Ukraine from NATO membership, with Svyrydenko stating the country will require "binding security guarantees" as a result.

By Freya Gibson, junior OSINT Producer

Data from a NASA satellite of a huge weapons depot in Russia indicates that explosions took place on the site yesterday - causing fires which were burning into this morning.

The 51st arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) of the Russian Ministry of Defence is situated near the village of Barsovo, 60km away from Moscow.

It stores significant reserves of artillery shells and missiles of various types, giving an overall number of approximately 105 thousand tons of weapons, according to reports.

Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, head of the NSDC Centre of Countering Disinformation, said the arsenal had "burned down badly" and a "secondary detonation engulfed it almost completely".

Watch: Explosions seen at Russian ammunition depot

NASA FIRMS  enables access to global near-real-time satellite imagery showing active fire/hotspots.

The image below shows the fire at the arsenal today.

Geolocated footage and satellite data from NASA FIRMS shows the explosion took place at around 13:00 UTC yesterday.

The fire was picked up by satellite at around 17:54 UTC yesterday evening and has stayed present through to today.

This satellite image from 2024 shows over 100 storage facilities likely to be holding ammunition and weaponry.

The geolocated video below shows a small crater and shrapnel in a nearby village Krasnyy Oktyabr, which is 8km away from the 51st GRAU arsenal site.